Darkened Skies
AN:This series that takes place in a future where Pyrrhia is almost totally destroyed by fireballs/meteors, and the seas have filled with ash from the fireballs, and flooded over parts of the continent. In the middle of the chaos of the world ending, a group of dragons known as the Guardians of the Darkened Skies(GoDS; how ironic), seemingly harmless, and acting like they want to help the tribes recover from the disasters, have risen and are secretly vying for world domination. In the SeaWing and NightWing Kingdoms, there are smaller, more obvious groups like the one above. The group in the SeaWing Kingdom is called the Talons of the Floods(ToF), and the group in the Night Kingdom is called the Watchers of the Clouded Moons(WoCM). Books in this series: Bk 1: Darkened Skies(Wildfire's POV) Bk 2: The Flooded Sea(Ray's POV) Bk 3: Shadow's End(Shadowender's POV) Bk 4: The Darkest Hour(Coldfront's POV) Other Books related to this series: Legends: Deathnight Main Characters: Wildfire(Firescales; SkyWing) Shadowender(Moon-born, with powers of both mind-reading and future sight; NightWing) Ray(Scales are like water, glow-in-the-dark-stripes can change color depending on her mood, as agile and graceful as a dolphin, mostly invisible; SeaWing hybrid; father's tribe unknown) Coldfront(VanquishedHydra4844)(Controllable Frostscales; SandWing IceWing hybrid) The Darkened Prophecy: Rulers of a darkened sky, Watchers of a clouded moon, Terrors of a flooded sea, Guardians of a scorched land, They will come to destroy, But the Four will stop them, When time is at it's end, But the Four are not here, In eggs they hide, Waiting till the darkest hour, but where are the eggs where they reside?, The First of Four's egg, Found in the Highest part of Sky, The Second of Four's egg, Found in a Shadow's end, The Third of Four's egg, Found in a lake's deepest niche, The Final of Four's egg, Found in the smallest tree, When fate is ready they will meet, And stop the darkness and defeat. The Four Will Rise... Prologue: Darkness. The two moons shining high over the Sky Kingdom, illuminating the crumbled spires of the palace and the ruined peaks of the mountains. A dragon, black as the sky on a moonless night, with eyes as red as fire, and wings that seemed as big as the sky, snuck through the palace ruins to the Royal Hatchery. Ignite peered around the corner, and saw that no one was coming, then hurried down the tunnel. The Hatchery was in sight now. Queen Sparrow, Ignite's aunt, was always paranoid that someone was going to steal or kill her or her eggs. She had guards posted around every entrance to the hatchery, day and night, but she missed one important fact: All the guards in the whole world wouldn't stop her nephew from entering. He would get in. Even if it meant using a weapon. Sparrow was an idiot to think that the guards around the hatchery would be able to stand up against her battle scarred, terrifying nephew and a tiny weapon: RainWing tranquilizer darts. Ignite carefully and quietly loaded his blowgun, shooting the guards in the neck and reloading the blowgun just as fast. The remaining guards slumped on top of each other in a snoring heap of red and orange scales, just as soon as they were shot. Ignite walked through the quiet, dark hatchery, and found the egg. The one that his aunt told him about mistakenly. The one that would never hatch. Ignite could suddenly see it. That egg would hatch. He could touch the surface and make the dragonet or dragonets inside live. The egg was big, crimson red, and carrying twins, according to Sparrow. Ignite took the egg, and snuck out of a hole in the ceiling that was big enough for him to fit through. No more being just "Prince Ignite" for him. He growled under his breath, clutching the egg tightly, and launched himself into the dark velvety sky. Several moments later, a scream split the night. Then there was nothing but silence, and a CRACK as Ignite's body hit the rocks on the ground below. The egg, however, had disappeared without a trace. _____________________________________________________________________________________ In a dark cave that was filled with shadows, a NightWing named Silentium placed an egg in the cave under a single shaft of moonlight and watched it turn silver. Satisfied that the dragonet would have the legendary NightWing powers, the lone NightWing sat back and watched the egg for hours, wondering if it would hatch, right there in his claws. It didn't, but as the other members of the tribe had said, watched water doesn't boil. It seemed that it was the same for eggs. Silentium placed the now silver egg into one of the darkest places in the cave, furthest away from the moonlight. Then he left, spread his giant starry wings, and lifted off into the night, leaving the egg in the darkness. Several hours later, a cloaked dragon, it's face and tribe hidden, lighted down into the cave, and snatched the egg from its blanket of shadows, leaving nothing, not even a talon-print to show that it had been there. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Alone by a starlit lake that captured the two moons above in a watery grave, a SeaWing was sitting on the bank. Trumpetfish, for that was the SeaWing's name, held the bright, cerulean egg he had gotten from his mate, Moccasin, up to the moonlight, and whispered, "I enchant the dragonet inside this egg to have scales like water, and to be as graceful and agile as a dolphin." Trumpetfish felt the egg shudder slightly in his talons as the enchantment took hold. Then he swam to the deepest part of the lake, and placed the egg in a niche that he had carved out of the sandstone banks of the lake, and left. A few minutes after Trumpetfish had left, a cloaked figure materialized out of the trees surrounding the lake. The figure suddenly dove into the water, and came back up again with the egg. Then, in the blink on an eye, the figure was gone without a trace. _____________________________________________________________________________________ An IceWing and a SandWing placed their egg, pale gold with swirls of pale arctic blue shimmering through it in the smallest tree they could find in the Kingdom of Sand. "Our dragonet." the IceWing murmured, smiling slightly at the SandWing as he leaned heavily on his mate. "Yes." the SandWing replied, coughing. "Karu*, promise me... promise me... that you'll protect our dragonet." "I will, Sivatag*. Siv, I promise." "Thank you-" Siv coughed again. "-Karu." "It's all right. Siv. Just hang on. I'll get your medicine. I'm sure I brought it with me-" "Karu, don't. Just turn around very, very slowly." "Wh-why?" "Shh." Siv hissed, but didn't say anything. Karu turned around, and saw a large, cloaked figure of a dragon of unknown tribe standing about two miles away from them, staring, it seemed, at the egg. Suddenly, the dragon started running toward them, and then, before Karu could blink, it was standing by him, and pinning Siv to the ground with a monstrous talon. "You are a sorry sight, SandWing." the dragon hissed. "What with the fact that you are sick, and getting worse by the day, I might add, you must ''be wanting to die." "Get away from her!" Karu roared, blasting frostbreath at the dragon, which did literally nothing to it. "SandWing, I believe I can end your sickness for you, so you don't have to suffer anymore." "What I have isn't going to end until I die, stranger." The dragon paused for a moment, as if thinking about what she had said. "Well, then, SandWing, I believe that I have a present for both you and your mate." Karu was glaring at the dragon, his claws clenched. "But first, I would like for you and your mate to receive what I'm about to give you together." Karu reluctantly walked over. The dragon stepped back a few paces to let Karu get close to Siv. Then, without warning, the dragon slashed his talons through the two pale throats in one swift motion, then stepped over their bodies and picked up the egg. With that, the dragon disappeared without a trace, save two bodies, their red and blue blood staining the sand around them. (*Sivatag is Hungarian for desert. *Karu is Finnish for barren) _____________________________________________________________________________________ '''PART 1: Prisoners' Chapter 1: 7 years later... '' The world as dragonkind knew it had ended in a fireball. Well, multiple, actually. Then, the oceans boiled over, and the seas were flooded with ash and fires still raged in many places. The Claws of the Clouds Mountains had been flattened, and the Ice Kingdom had been obliterated by fire and rising sea levels. Most everyone blamed the ending of the world on natural causes. Others, however knew what had caused the dragon world to collapse: a dead oak leaf. Actually, an ''enchanted ''dead oak leaf. At least, that was what Wildfire and the other four dragonets she had grown up with had been taught. How could an enchanted dead oak leaf cause the world to end? According to their history teacher, Alpaca, it depended on who enchanted the leaf, in this case, a NightWing, supposedly an animus, named Deathnight. Deathnight was supposedly insane when he enchanted that leaf. Ironically, Deathnight was dead, or so it seemed. Personally, she had always found history super boring. Not that the minders could hurt Wildfire with much, as they were always forced to wear armor made of tungsten metal when doing anything with her, because she had the most deadly condition a SkyWing could have: firescales. Wildfire was untouchable by anyone without tungsten metal armor or fireproof scales. None of the dragonets she had grown up with could touch her, except for Coldfront, a SandWing IceWing hybrid, and then he could only do that when he let his frostscales out. Wildfire was ''supposed to be listening to Alpaca and taking notes on her tungsten metal slate, but Alpaca always made the lessons super boring and tedious, to the point where Wildfire longed to be swimming, or hunting, or fighting, or anything other than listening to Alpaca drone on about the history of "the great and marvelous IceWing tribe". It didn't help that Alpaca always spoke in a slow, emotionless monotone, which made her feel like eels were slithering into her ears. Without a warning, Wildfire felt something smack her on her snout. "OW!" she yelped. "Pay attention!" Alpaca snarled. "I am paying attention!" Wildfire snapped back. "Oh really? Then tell me, if you were really paying attention, the royal history of animus dragons in the Royal IceWing family." "Uh... Queen Glacies, Princess/Queen Polar, Princess/Queen Skua, Prince Iceclaws, Princess/Queen Hoarfrost, Prince Hailstone, the gene dropped out for a few generations, Princess Frostbite, Prince Penguin, Queen Diamond, Prince Arctic, Darkstalker..." Alpaca looked at Wildfire for a moment with contempt. "WRONG!" the IceWing roared, slicing his tungsten metal protected claws against Wildfire's snout. "The royal IceWing animus lineage did not ''begin with Queen Glacies! No," Alpaca hissed, "It began long before that... long, long before that." "Oh, yeah?" Wildfire snarled. "Yes. And if you had listened to me, you would know what I was talking about!" "Well, I don't know, and maybe if you made your lessons even the least bit ''interesting, maybe I would listen!" Wildfire roared, slicing her claws at Alpaca's snout. "Talking back to your teacher and attempted assault, SkyWing." Alpaca hissed, suddenly becoming deadly calm. "You know where that gets you." "Yeah, yeah... two weeks in "the Cage"." "Talking back again... four weeks!" Alpaca snarled. Wildfire hissed, but didn't say anything, knowing that Alpaca would just use it as an excuse to lock her in "the Cage" for longer. Growling under her breath, Wildfire stormed out of the room. Chapter 2: Wildfire walked back to her room, and saw Ray sitting on her bed. Okay, it was actually just the floor, because she technically didn't have a bed, like the rest of them. The SeaWing was transparent, like water, so she practically blended in with the room around her, except for when she chose to light up her stripes, which was the only way that Wildfire could see her. "Hi, Wildfire!" Ray said, running over to her. The SeaWing's stripes were a murky green color today(her stripes changed color depending on what she was feeling), and her eyes were a dark blue, not unlike the color of Wildfire's eyes. As far as Wildfire could tell, Ray was the most vulnerable out of the four dragonets, because she didn't have any weapons, as far as Wildfire could tell, other than her invisibility. Ray was also the last hatched out of the four of them, which meant she was smaller than the rest of them, too. "Hi, Ray. How'd your Aquatic Swimming lessons go?" "Goood! Mako says I'm making a lot of progress! He says that Dr. Viperfish is working on figuring out why I'm invisible all the time, and why my glow stripes change color. Mako says that Dr. Viperfish thinks he may have an answer, but that he'll have to do some tests with me to be sure." "That's cool. I'm assuming the others are coming?" "Yeah. I saw Shadowender helping Silentstar and her assistant, you know, Mightymight? Shadowender was helping them clean the boards when I was walking down here. I think Coldfront's still in battle training with Quetzal." "Good to know. You're going to have to sleep with Shadowender tonight, Ray." "You're spending two weeks in "the Cage"?" Ray whimpered. "Four, actually. By the moons, I hate Alpaca." "Me too, Wildfire. Sometimes, he'll thump me for no good reason sometimes. I think he hates me." "He certainly hates me, ''but I don't know why." "Probably because you snark off to him constantly, Fire." a voice said. "Oh, hey, Shadowender." "Shadoooowwww! Tell the minders to let Fire stay here! Fire has to spend four weeks in "the Cage", and I have to sleep with you for the next four weeks, which I don't wanna do!" Shadow smiled, took his spectacles off, and began polishing them furiously. "Hi, invisible-as-always Ray. Why don't you want to sleep with me?" "You snore too much, and you sleep practically on top of me, and you take all of my space." Ray said, looking irritated. "Oh. I'll try not to do that for the next four weeks, okay?" "I want Fire!!!" Ray shrieked. "Okay, okay. I'll ask." Just at that moment, Coldfront came in, his spiked tail lashing angrily. freezing cold air wafting off of him. "Uh, hi-" "Shut. up." "Got it." Coldfront stormed to the left corner of the room, which happened to be the coldest corner as well. While Shadow continued to try and convince Ray to sleep with him, Wildfire walked over to Coldfront." "Hey, 'Front. What's wrong?" "What do you think?" "Quetzal giving you a hard time again?" "Yeah. The usual. 'Use your claws, hybrid! Use your frostbreath more! Keep your frostscales under control!'" "I get it, Coldfront. I'm... different, too." "I'm a mistake. I wasn't supposed to happen." "No, you're not a mistake. Besides, we're here for you. ''I'm ''here for you." Coldfront smiled. "Thanks, Fire." "No problem, 'Front." "I'm sick of being here, did you know that?" "No, 'Front, I didn't." "Well, I am, and the Guardians can't stop me." "'Front, you can't! The Guardians wouldn't be happy if you escaped. They would probably take their anger out on us!" "Well, I'm planning to escape, so you can come with me, or you can stay here, as a prisoner." "I'd go with you, 'Front, I just don't how we're going to do that; escape." "I have an idea of how to do it..." Coldfront said. "But I won't tell you unless you agree to act like you've gone mad and threaten to burn all of the guard's faces off." "The ones by "the Cage"?" "Yeah." "Fine. I'll do it... How do I do that, exactly?" Chapter 3: "You just... act like you've gone crazy with no one to talk to and nothing to do, Fire. Simple. I have heard that solitary confinement makes some dragons go crazy if they're kept in it long enough. Now I need you to act like, and convince the minders and the guards, that almost three weeks with the thought of another horrible bored-out-of-your-skull week ahead of you has driven you over the edge of sanity, or has otherwise caused you to become murderous, conscious of nothing but a need for company, and has you literally ''slobbering for anything to do, even if that thing involves running around in circles the entire night screeching your head off." "Okay. I'll do that, but you'll just have to tell me when." "I'll send Ray in, considering that she's invisible most of the time anyway." "Okay, thanks." Wildfire grabbed a tungsten metal slate that had her name, tribe, age, and hatching date on it off of a hook by the door. The slate was animus enchanted to change the age on it as she got older. She turned back, and walked over to Coldfront. "Say hi to Ray and Shadowender for me during the next three weeks, okay?" The SandWing hybrid nodded, and twined his tail in hers, Coldfront's tail spikes clicking softly. "I'll send Ray, okay?" "Got it. Three weeks?" "Three weeks." Wildfire left her room and headed down the hall. I wonder what Ray is going to do if Shadowender rolls over on her or snores too loud again. Probably throw him in the koi pool . Gee, that's a funny image.' She turned right, and ran into one of the scientists, named Hyrax. "Hello, Dr. Hyrax." Wildfire said, moving to the side to avoid touching the SandWing. "Where is it?!" Hyrax muttered to himself. Wildfire wondered briefly if he had heard her, then continued on. After a rather confusing labyrinth of turns, Wildfire arrived at "the Cage", also known as Drachenfel Penitentiary. She checked in, and the warden said, "Don't even need your card, Wildfire. You've been in here practically every week! Maybe we should set a cell aside for you whenever you get sent here. How many this time?" "Thanks, but no thanks, sir. Four weeks." Wildfire replied. A guard silently prodded her in the direction of the cells. After several minutes of walking, the guard unlocked one of the cell doors, and prodded Wildfire into it, still not speaking. The guard then left the cell, locking the door closely behind him. '''Three boring weeks to go...' '' Wildfire scratched at the floor, and watched as the guard walked away, not bothering to stay in case she escaped. She knew she couldn't. Every part of the cell was fireproof, from the walls, to the floor to the chains clamped the wall, obviously for a prisoner who would fight back. Even the air was fireproof, it seemed, but maybe that was just because of all the smoke rising from her scales. For some reason, being trapped in a cell, versus being in her room or in a classroom, caused her firescales to go berserk and produce a lot more fire and smoke than usual, as if they were trying to burn their way out. Wildfire curled her tail around her claws, and arched her neck, in an attempt to work out a couple of kinks, then closed her eyes, and fell asleep. Chapter 4: It was time, according to a note that the guard had dropped into the cell. Wildfire decided to pretend to go insane fast, like a dragon who was actually insane might. One minute, she was calmly sitting and staring at the door, when the guard looked in. Wildfire steeled herself for impact as she pummeled the air, trying to fly in the low airspace and crashing several times for effect. Then she started ramming herself into the door, trying to burn her way out. As an added effect, Wildfire slobbered like mad, sizzling spit globs flying everywhere as she thrashed like a dragon possessed. "Fearfighter! We need help! The prisoner's gone crazy! She might try to kill us!" "Yesss... I mussssttt.... kill. Mussst have fooood!!" Wildfire hissed, drawing out the s' in the words. "Crikey! Get the battalion!" yelped the guard. With the guard yelling for help, the other prisoners howling angrily for blood, and Wildfire shrieking like a spirit from the dragon underworld, it was chaotic. The guards burst in, completely covered in tungsten metal armor. Four of them pinned Wildfire to the ground, the smell of scorched metal filling the air. Wildfire coughed and spat phlegm at the guards, hissing crazily. She clawed at the guards, but couldn't do anything. "Ssstop!" she howled, as the guards dragged her toward the wall. "Let go... I'll burn all you rotten pieces of ssslobbery sssimpletonsss to assshh! LET.... ME.... OUT!" she screamed, managing to break away from the guards. Screeching madly in exhilaration, Wildfire ran, her talons pounding the stone floor as the guards ran after her angrily. Wildfire shot toward the entrance to "the Cage", still shrieking, stubbing her talons on loose rocks, and falling flat on her face, even biting her tongue several times in a mad dash to freedom. The guards suddenly appeared from all sides. Growling as if she was angry, Wildfire sliced her claws at their unprotected snouts. She watched, smiling insanely, as the guards screeched in agony, their snouts becoming things of the past. "Pooorr, poorr you all.... I ssssorry for doing that... Now... DIE!!" she shrieked, slicing her claws deftly into the slots of the guard's armor, and turning several of the members to piles of metal armor and charred dust. "Wildfire, we don't want to hurt you." said the one who had been guarding her cell. "We just want you to come with us. We can protect you, even help you get yourself under control. Okay." Wildfire smiled insanely. "You thinksss you can ssstop me? I isss thisss clossse to killing you all. I am powerful. Much more powerful than you puny idiotsss can comprehend." she spat, glaring at the guards. With a scream of pleasure, she rammed her claws into one of the guard's unprotected underbelly, watching with demented pleasure as the dragon burned from the inside out. "Catch me if you can!" she hissed, leaping over the guard's heads. Screeching, Wildfire ran into a corner, the guards behind her. "Let me sssee you all die!" Wildfire screamed, spit flying from her mouth. "The only one who might be dying is ''you. But then, you are part of the prophecy, insane or not, and must be kept alive." the guard said. The guard flicked his tail, and six of the guards shot tranquilizer darts at her simultaneously. Each of them found their mark. Wildfire collapsed to the floor, her wings crumpled around her, smoke still wafting off of her scales. Her last thought, before she dropped into darkness, was 'This is how it is supposed to be...' '' Chapter 5: Wildfire drifted in and out, hearing snatches of conversation around her that flooded in, then washed back out, fading into oblivion as she was pulled back down into the murky blackness of unconsciousness. "...When will she wake up?" "Don't know. I would prefer never." She could feel something that was drawn tight around her ankles, wings, neck, snout, and tail, immobilizing her. Wildfire wanted to open her eyes, to see what was on her, but she couldn't. She drifted into a dream: ''Wildfire was standing in a mountain cave, Ray, Shadowender, and Coldfront with her. "Do you want to fight the Guardians?" Ray asked them. Shadowender and Coldfront both immediately said, "Yes." Wildfire stared at the SeaWing, her claws clenched. There was a terrifying silence. "No." Wildfire growled. "Why not?" Ray asked. "I am loyal to the Guardians of the Darkened Skies." "What?" Shadowender gasped, looking horrified, his spectacles askew on his snout. "We risked everything, ''everything, Fire. Now you would turn your back on us? On your friends?" Coldfront snarled, his frostscales starting to show. "You abandoned me, left me behind at the Watcher's mercy. The Guardians... they saved me. They made me smarter, faster, stronger... They made me a much better dragon than you three will ever ''be." '' ''With a snarl, Wildfire stabbed her burning claws into Coldfront's chest, ripped them out, and slashed Shadowender's throat. Then she turned to Ray, who was pale green and silver in color. The SeaWing's mouth was open, but no sound came out. Wildfire smiled weakly, and said, "I'm sorry I had to do that, friend. Come, lean on me." With a hiss of rage, Ray leaped back, and snarled, "How could you? They were our friends! You just... you..." "I just killed them in cold blood?" Wildfire asked, smiling slightly. "You monster! Get away from me!" Ray screamed, her scales blood red and gray. "I'm sorry, Ray, dear, but I had to. You see-" "Shut up! Get away! Go! Get out of here! I never want to see your horrible face ever again!" Ray screamed. Wildfire hissed. "Unfortunately, dear, that's not possible. I'm sorry that I have to do this, but I must." Wildfire grabbed Ray and wrapped her in a final, fiery embrace. Ray's screams faded long before she crumbled into a pile of ash. Wildfire's eyes slowly opened. '''NO! They can't be dead! They can't!" "''Prisoner's awake!" "Take her back to her regular cell, or leave her here?" "Leave her here. Between keeping her unconscious, and checking on that weird SeaWing, Dr. Viperfish is swamped." Wildfire coughed a few times. "Uh... excuse me... Could I have some water, please?" The guard dumped a bucket of water in the cell, spilling its contents all over Wildfire. She hissed, and snorted a burst of fire from her nose. The guards laughed. "Leave her here. At least until Viperfish is able to check on her again." "Okay." The guards fell silent. Wildfire tried to move, but found that she was tied tightly down on a raised stone slab, clamps pinning her to the table by her neck, tail, wrists, and ankles, while her wings were folded over and bound in metal clips that were attached to shackles on the slab. Wildfire wondered what day of what week it was, as the last letter she had gotten from Ray said that they would try to escape three weeks to the day that she had gotten sent to "the Cage". She had been in "the Cage" for a week before Ray sent her the letter. Which meant that today might just be the third week since she had been down here. "Uh, excuse me... Guard..." "What?" asked one of the guards. "What day is it?" "Exactly three weeks since you were brought down here." "Thanks. That's all I wanted to know." Coldfront and the others would be staging an escape right now, hopefully. At that moment, something hit Wildfire in the neck. '''Tranquilizer dart. Very funny, guys.' ''Then everything went black. Chapter 6: Wildfire woke up blearily to see a talon in front of her face, sky blue in color. "What..." she mumbled. "Fire! Wake up! Come on! We have to go!" "I'm tired, guys. Let me sleep in a little longer..." A pair of talons grabbed her and hoisted her on top of whoever the dragon was. The dragon's freezing cold scales shocked her awake. "Yow! They..." "They knocked you out with six tranquilizer darts, took you down here, and chained you to that slab for two weeks." a voice said. "No wonder I'm feeling loopy..." "You better get over that feeling fast, Fire. We're going to have to fight." "You! STOP!" roared a voice. "Time to fight!" Shadowender roared, fighting his way past several of the guards. Ray turned completely invisible, and soon, several more guards were dead. Coldfront set Wildfire down, and put his frostscales on full strength, forming a mini blizzard and freezing several of the guards to death. Meanwhile, Wildfire burned the rest to ashes. Eventually, with a trail of carnage behind them, the four reached the front door of the place that they had called their home for the past seven years. As they peered out into the sunlight for the first time in their entire lives, Wildfire heard talonsteps coming toward them. She turned around with a soft growl, but noticed that it was only Quetzal, Mako, and Silentstar with Mightymight trailing behind her. "We're leaving. You can't stop us." Coldfront hissed, glaring at Quetzal. "We just wanted you four to know that we love you like our own dragonets, and that we don't hold your decision to escape against you. After all, you need to go out and see the world. Not just learn about it in scrolls. You know?" Quetzal smiled. "Yeah. Thanks." "We'll be cheering for you." Mako added. Silentstar signed something and Mightymight said, "Silentstar says that she will miss you, and that she wants to give you all something before you go." The older NightWing silently handed each of them a pouch of rocks, and a hard rectangular thing. Silentstar signed something else, and Mightymight said, "The rocks are skyfire, and the other... is...well, you'll see." Wildfire's rectangle thing was encased in a tungsten metal sheath. She pulled it out, and saw something she hadn't expected ever to see: Records of where she had originally come from. "Frm ld llliiby." What'd you say?" "She said it's from the old library. Right, Silentstar?" Shadowender said. Silentstar nodded, and smiled. The three minders stepped back into the darkness of the caverns, waving a final farewell before disappearing. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Shadowender asked. "Let's go save the world." '''PART 2: The Broken Claws Chapter 7: They had been flying for days. They were tired. No one wanted to fly anymore. "I can't...fly... anymore... Fire. Can we please... stop?" "I want to reach the Sky Kingdom by nightfall." "Or what's left of it, anyway." Shadowender muttered. "Yeah." "And what's left of the SkyWings!" Ray added with a laugh. "Yeah." Coldfront said, smiling. "I just want to find my family. Mine said that my egg was stolen from the Royal Hatchery. So maybe I'm related to nobility or something." "Maybe. My record said I was found at the bottom of a lake. Whatever that means." Ray laughed. "Mine ''said I was found in a cave." Shadowender said. "What about you, Front?" "I was left in a tree-an extremely small tree." Coldfront replied, not smiling. "What's wrong, Front?" "I don't think I'm going to find my parents. Ever." "I'm sure you'll find them." "Thanks." They flew in silence for the rest of the trip. Soon, they reached the Sky Kingdom, now a place of crumbled, ruined peaks, that looked like broken teeth or claws. Shadowender sighed. "Welcome to the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, or as they are now known; the Broken Claws." "Thanks for the introduction. The SkyWings should-" Shadowender suddenly snapped his jaw shut and shut up. He slammed Ray into Coldfront, who smacked into Wildfire. Coldfront still had his frostscales out, and wasn't hurt, thankfully. Wildfire in turn, weighed down by the three dragons on top of her, flew down towards an overhang. As soon as the others got off of her, Wildfire hissed, "What was that for?!" "SkyWings!" Shadowender growled back. "About nine or ten of 'em. Did you want us to-" He suddenly shut up again. "What?!" "Just...turn around very, very, very slowly." Wildfire slowly turned around, and saw four SkyWings, one orange, one red, one a dark burgundy, and the last was golden yellow. "Uh, hi." Wildfire mumbled nervously. " Hello." the yellow one said. "We don't want any trouble. Weren't even looking for any." Wildfire said. "We were just wondering why you, SkyWing, were traveling with these three, who obviously ''aren't SkyWings." said the burgundy one in a deep voice. "They're my friends, and the only family I've really had." "Ah. Well, care to introduce them?" "The NightWing's Shadowender, the mostly-invisible-SeaWing, for reasons we can't figure out, is Ray, and the SandWing IceWing hybrid is Coldfront." Ray turned different shades of blue. "Does this help you all see me better?" "Yeah. That's cool!" said the orange one. "Who're you?" asked the red one. "I'm Wildfire. I'm a firescales, so unless you want to experience an agonizing death, don't touch me." "Got it." the yellow SkyWing said. "I'm Sulfur, and the orange SkyWing is Torch, the red SkyWing is Spiral, and the burgundy one is Whirlwind." "Thanks, Sulfur. We were just passing through, and I'm trying to find my parents. Do you know who they are?" "No, but the queen might." Spiral said. "It's nice to meet you all." Torch said. Whirlwind just looked them over, and his gaze made Wildfire's scales crawl. "Hmmm..." he said, turning away and preparing to fly off. "You heading back?" "Yeah." "Since Whirlwind's our patrol leader, we have to go." Sulfur said, flying up next to Whirlwind. "See you later, guys." Spiral said, her black wing tattoos rippling as she beat her wings in the air. Torch just stood there, staring at Ray, mesmerized as the SeaWing's scales shifted in different shades of blue. "Wow..." he mumbled. "Torch!" Spiral roared. "Stop being creepy and staring at that SeaWing! Come on! We've got to go!" "Okay, okay, sis. No need to yell at me about it!" As Torch turned to go, Wildfire said, "Wait! If we see you again, can you show us around?" "Sure. Maybe I will see you four again." "TORCH!!" "Coming!" Torch flew towards Spiral, and waved back once, then flew back toward what remained of the palace. Chapter 8: After the patrol left, Wildfire and her three friends flew in the same direction that the patrol went in. She could tell that Ray was nervous based on the fact that the SeaWing was green with splotches of blue that were quickly stomped out by the green whenever they would pop up. Shadowender wasn't saying anything, just staring straight ahead. Coldfront was flying with a tiny blizzard whirling around him, but even the blizzard seemed nervous, if that was possible. "When are we going to touch down, Fire?" Ray asked. "I don't know." "This place makes me nervous." "Same here." Shadowender added. "You're one to comment, Mister-Always-Scared-of-Everything." "I am not!" "You are, too." "Guys, stop arguing for five minutes, and look who's coming." Coldfront said, pointing at an entourage of SkyWings that was flying towards them. The leader, a reddish orange SkyWing who was obviously important, due to her jewelry, roared, "HALT! What business do you have in our kingdom?" Wildfire glared at the SkyWing, and shouted back, "It's none of your business, what we're doing." "Oh, it's not, is it? What if it's my business to know about it?" "We want to see Queen Sparrow." "Hmm." said the SkyWing. "That can certainly be arranged. My name is Solar. Princess ''Solar, and Queen Sparrow is my mother. As for you, SkyWing, you need not be traveling with these dragons." "These dragons are my friends, Solar." "That's ''Princess Solar ''to you, SkyWing. Soon to be Queen Solar, if I win the Royal Challenge." "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Wildfire muttered. Solar smiled slightly at Wildfire, sending her her best ''I'm-better-than-you-and-you-better-admit-it-before-I-smash-your-face-in look. Wildfire gritted her teeth, and growled, "Fine. Take us to Queen Sparrow." She shot the same look back at Solar, smiling inwardly at the princess's expression. Solar stared at Ray's scales which were in shades of orange, and gold. "You're an odd one, aren't you, SeaWing?" she said, smiling slightly at Ray, before turning to the guards that were accompanying her. "You heard the dangerous one. Take us to the queen." "Yes, princess." said one of the guards, flicking his tail. Wildfire was disgusted. Of course, it did have some truth in there, as she was dangerous. "Follow us." Solar said, flicking her tail in an extremely annoying manner. "Oh, and SkyWing, keep back so you don't burn me. Mother would hate it if her favorite heir, me, died before I was able to take the throne." 'Maybe I'll burn your face so you can't talk anymore. How would you like that?' ''Solar led them to a room in the crumbled ruins of the palace, then walked off. "Presenting Her Majesty, Queen Sparrow of the SkyWings, and the heirs to the throne, Princess Solar and Princess Flare." a guard announced. The queen was covered in all manners of jewelry, to the point where it was making Wildfire sick. "If you need to hurl, SkyWing, do it outside my throne room. I do so hate having messy floors." "No, its all that jewelry you have on, Your Majesty. It's all rather... bright." "Oh, these things. Yes. But they're pretty. I quite like them." "Well, I don't." "Fire!" "How-" Sparrow stopped herself, then said, "Well, at least you were being honest." "''Mother, the firescales just insulted you!" "Shut up, Solar." Flare said. Solar whipped her head around to face her younger sister. "How dare you!" she hissed. "So, SkyWing... why are you traveling through my Kingdom with these... misfits?" the queen asked. "Your Majesty, first off, these dragons I'm traveling with are not misfits, they are my friends. As to why I'm here... you may know by my entourage." Wildfire said, fighting to hold back the urge to slap both Solar, who was smirking in a self-righteous manner, and the queen, who was staring at her claws in boredom, in their faces. "I don't believe I do, SkyWing. So tell me, why are you here?" Wildfire gritted her teeth. Ray noticed, and said, "Wildfire's feeling a little... agitated right now, Your Majesty. Would you permit me to speak?" "Fine. SeaWing." "Your Majesty, you may have hear of a certain prophecy-" "The one about the four dragonets and someone destroying the world?" "Yes. That one." Solar shot Wildfire a look of full-on hatred, and Sparrow's jaw sagged. "You mean... you four are the... the, um, you know..." Flare mumbled, trailing off under Solar's glare. "Yes. We're the Four." Chapter 9: Flare gulped, and asked to be excused. Sparrow said yes, and a few minutes later, they heard someone screaming at the top of their lungs. Wildfire smiled, trying to smother a laugh. "Oh, great story. We're really supposed to believe that?" Solar snapped. "How do we know you're not lying?" "I'm not." The room temperature started to drop. "Yes, you are, SkyWing." Solar hissed. Queen Sparrow was outside with Flare. Coldfront hissed, and Ray turned orange and red. The temperature dropped even more. "Uh, excuse me," Shadowender said, "Do you have any proof ''that we're lying?" The guards by the door stiffened. Solar's lips pulled back in a snarl, and she uncoiled like a snake about to strike, her eyes glinting cruelly. "You shall not talk back to the future queen of the SkyWings!" she snarled, lunging at Shadowender. Solar smashed the NightWing to the floor of the throne room and placed her talons on his throat. "I see that you are a mind reader, NightWing. So, tell me... what am I thinking?" "Why should I tell you?" With a growl, Solar punched Shadowender in the face. "Guards!" she roared. "Yes, princess?" "Restrain this NightWing!" The guards moved toward Shadowender, and prodded him away from Solar. Wildfire wanted to burn Solar to ashes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ray go completely invisible, then she saw a shimmery outline of the SeaWing, behind Solar. Solar suddenly shrieked as Ray sunk her claws and teeth into the SkyWing's back and neck. Solar twisted and there was a thud as Ray hit the wall, turning pale red and white. "Guards! Restrain this SeaWing! No, take her, and throw her and the NightWing and throw them in the room with my pet." "Yes, Princess." One of the guards slung Ray over his shoulder, and two others escorted Shadowender out of the room. "Where are you taking them?" Wildfire snarled. "Oh, they'll be in the dungeons with my pets for a few hours. Don't worry, they'll be released in a few hours." Coldfront let out a soft growl. "Now-" "Wait, your ''pets?" Coldfront said, disbelief in his pale eyes. "Yes. My pets. Shall I show them to you?" "No." "All right, SkyWing. Now, get out of here, before I throw you out myself." Seething, Wildfire walked out, Coldfront behind her, his frostscales on full blast, a blizzard whirling around him as he walked, his eyes stormy. As Wildfire flew toward the city below the palace, she wondered how Ray and Shadowender were doing. A few moments later, they touched down, the grass aroung Wildfire burning to ashes, and freezing around Coldfront. They walked through the city streets, several SkyWings shooting horrified looks at Wildfire. As they turned a corner, a familiar voice called, "Hello, you two!" "Hey, Torch!" Wildfire called. "I'll go inside." Coldfront said, disgruntled. "Sure. You can do that." Torch said. Coldfront stomped toward the tent that Torch had just come out of, and Wildfire heard him ask where the coldest section of the tent was. "And... that's Coldfront when he's feeling extremely negative." "He's Blizzard-front?" Torch asked, smirking. "Yeah, pretty much." "Ha, well, Spiral is sometimes like that, when she hasn't had enough sleep." "So am I, but more... flamey." "I can imagine that." "I'd like you to meet one of my-" "HEEEEYYY TORCHY-SMORCHY!!!" "Wha- Oh! Hey Pyrope, Robin, and Freefall!" "Or, as I-sorry, we, like to call ourselves, Pyrobinfall, Torch!" "Sorry, Py! I keep forgetting!" "No problem!" Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Content (VanquishedHydra4844) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)